The Bobcats began the 2014 campaign with a loss to Boston at Pruitt Field.
Freshman Maria Russell scored twice along with a first half goal by Adele Sammons, as Ohio dropped its first game of the season to Boston 4-3.
The back-and-forth affair came to a head after Boston’s Sofi Laurito scored her second goal with six minutes left in the second half. Ohio didn’t held the lead longer than five minutes.
On a gloomy, humid day at Pruitt Field, coach Neil Macmillan gave the starting nod to four freshman, as the Bobcats’ play in the first half was littered with miscues.
“It might be a loss, but we are very proud of the way we played as a unit,” Russell said. “Coming off this, were going to take the positives and not the loss.”
Despite the youth, however, Ohio found some continuity in it’s first game of the year according to Macmillan.
“I think it’s very encouraging when you look at this as a whole,” Macmillan said. “We had four freshmen that started, Maria got on the scoreboard a couple of times, so it’s great to see some of the youngsters contribute. All four had a fantastic game and then Kennedy (Farr) coming off the bench.”
The Terriers outshot the Bobcats 11-4, as Ohio only had one shot on goal during the second half. Senior goalkeeper Brittany Walker tallied two saves.
Although statistics don’t favor the Bobcats, Ohio found contributors in different facets of the game.
Senior Hartley played valuable minutes for Macmillan, as the Escondido, California native tallied an assist early on. Lauryl Desch added an assist as well.
Sammons showed superb stick skills and vision during the game, after the junior missed part of the offseason training.
“I think we gave up goals at crucial times,” Macmillan said. “We have to make sure we play a solid five minutes after every restart and we can go from there. When you go up and go back down to, it is a little disheartening.”
Up next: Ohio will take on Syracuse, which is coming off a 5-1 victory over Miami. The RedHawks were projected to finish first in the Mid-American Conference preseason polls.
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